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How to install custom content in TS4: .package files, script mods, custom sims & lots. [UPDATED ON 21-03-2015]

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How to install custom content in TS4: .package files, script mods, custom sims & lots. [UPDATED ON 21-03-2015] Empty How to install custom content in TS4: .package files, script mods, custom sims & lots. [UPDATED ON 21-03-2015]

Post by The_gh0stm4n Sun 26 Oct 2014, 20:54

Hello all,


I thought a *small* guide on custom content for The Sims 4 is in place. Very Happy  Keep in mind that the information presented here might become "outdated" at some point in the future, and the guide itself may be edited, over time. But overall, this guide represents the status quo, at the time I'm writing this. Let's see.




1) Virtually all third-party custom content (= "user-made" stuff, if you wish) in The Sims 4 has the file format .package. These can include both "mods" (CC that modify in-game mechanisms) and other general custom content like CAS items or buy-mode objects.

.Package files need to be put into the following location: (My) Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 4/Mods. Unlike in The Sims 3, where you actually had to add your Mods-folder on your own, the situation in Sims 4 is that with installing the game, this "Mods"-folder will automatically be created by the installer. Also, if you look inside the Mods-folder, you will notice the Resource.cfg file, which will also be added during the installation of the game. So no need to worry about that.


*NOTE* This "The Sims 4"-folder in the location I mentioned (My Documents/Electronic Arts) won't show up until you start the game the first time. So if you want to add mods to your game right after installing The Sims 4, start the game, and once you get to the main menu, simply exit the game again (without saving). Otherwise, if you want to add mods later on, simply play normally, and add the mods at a later date.


SO AGAIN: You MUST start the game at least once after installing it, for the "Mods"-folder to show up afterwards.


And make sure, please, that you are looking in the right location for the "Mods"-folder. Smile  The right location is C:\Users\(your username)\My Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4\Mods. See this screenshot (in particular the green rectangle in the top left of the screen).




How to install custom content in TS4: .package files, script mods, custom sims & lots. [UPDATED ON 21-03-2015] Screen16










The inside of my "Mods"-folder, then, looks like this:


How to install custom content in TS4: .package files, script mods, custom sims & lots. [UPDATED ON 21-03-2015] H54FejZ



The first thing to note is that I made further sub-folders, to organize my CC better. And I strongly recommend you do the same ! Of course, you can put all .package files "directly" into the Mods-folder too, but I wouldn't recommend that. *EDIT* A guide for creating more layers of subfolders can be found written by user @coolcandy3001here.


The folder names are self-explanatory, but you may come up with your own "system" of organization of course. The folder "Default Replacements" is for stuff that "overwrites" original content in-game, like bodyskin files, bodyhair, and so on. The folder "Test" is for new custom content: whenever I download new stuff, I put it into the "Test"-folder, and then start the game. If I notice problems, then I can conclude that most likely, the problem lies within one of the things that I just recently added - into that Test-folder. But if everything is OK, I will remove everything from "Test", and re-organize the stuff into the other folders.

This is only a suggestion though. Smile  You can create as many sub-folders inside "Mods", as you wish.


Another example screenshot, from inside my "Clothing"-folder:


How to install custom content in TS4: .package files, script mods, custom sims & lots. [UPDATED ON 21-03-2015] YpjCi2E



As for .package files, this is it for now. Let's move on...




2) The situation with "scripting mods" looks different. They are - as of now - always packed in .zip files. You must NEVER unzip those files ! Instead, put the .zip files of scripting mods directly into either your "Mods"-folder, or into one of its sub-folders, like in my case the one called "Scripting Mods". Look here:

How to install custom content in TS4: .package files, script mods, custom sims & lots. [UPDATED ON 21-03-2015] PPmHbQt


And that's it; don't do anything else with the .zip files; you have now "installed" those mods. However, I would recommend keeping a simple structure within your "Mods"-folder, and not too many layers of subfolders. If there are problems with mods not being recognized, try reducing your layers of subfolders. Or put your stuff directly under "Mods"; and not in any subfolders whatsoever.



A small look inside those .zips reveals the following:



How to install custom content in TS4: .package files, script mods, custom sims & lots. [UPDATED ON 21-03-2015] 7ypaMjX



Inside those .zip files are often files with the format .py and/or .pyo. But again, for now this won't be relevant to most of you, since you are going to put the .zip folder directly into "Mods", or any sub-folder in it.


Note that ANY mod (whether "scripting mod" or "normal mod") must match the base game patch version, so again, please make sure to read all available information on the stuff you download, very carefully. You can find out your game version here:


How to install custom content in TS4: .package files, script mods, custom sims & lots. [UPDATED ON 21-03-2015] Screen69



Go to your install location of the base game. For Games4TheWorld's release this is (normally) C:\Program files(x86)\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4\Game\Bin. For legit owners of the game: C:\Program files(x86)\Origin Games\The Sims 4\Game\Bin. Open the Default.ini file and look under gameversion. The digit that shows up there is your game version.


Alternatively, you can also look into the GameVersion.txt file, located in (My) Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 4.


As far as installation goes, this is it. Now...when we start the game next time, we will get this here:


How to install custom content in TS4: .package files, script mods, custom sims & lots. [UPDATED ON 21-03-2015] Screen71



You can de-activate those pop-ups, by unmarking "Show At Startup", at the bottom. But let's confirm this pop-up for now, and go into the OPTIONS menu.



How to install custom content in TS4: .package files, script mods, custom sims & lots. [UPDATED ON 21-03-2015] Screen13



Mark the box "Script Mods", to activate those mods you installed. After that, click on "Apply changes". You will then be prompted to re-start the game for the changes to take effect. So please do that. A small note about the other boxes named "Online notifications" and "Share user data". If you are using a pirated game, I suggest you have those boxes UNMARKED. If you use a legit game, feel free to tick those boxes, though.


Now you're set ! Let's have a (brief) look now at a few things in-game.


How to install custom content in TS4: .package files, script mods, custom sims & lots. [UPDATED ON 21-03-2015] Screen21



Many of the "clothing CC items" are re-colorings of existing items. In case of these, there won't be a new thumbnail picture for that in the CAS. Instead, you must find the "appropriate item" and look into the color schemes. Those schemes marked with red arrows are those "Lace jeans" I installed in my game (see above screenshot). You must read the descriptions of the CC you download very carefully. For those of you who played Sims 3, this shouldn't be anything new, though. 



How to install custom content in TS4: .package files, script mods, custom sims & lots. [UPDATED ON 21-03-2015] Screen22


A small note about buy/build-mode objects: in TS4 you actually have a search function; so there is a search maske, in which you can type in something, to find an item more easily.






3) Briefly about downloaded custom sims and lots...if you haven't downloaded them from the online gallery, you will have to add them manually to your game. Here's how:


How to install custom content in TS4: .package files, script mods, custom sims & lots. [UPDATED ON 21-03-2015] Screen73


This is the content of the downloaded custom house I got off from TSR. As you can see, the lot download consists of several files. You must extract those files directly into the following location:


(My) Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 4/Tray


There, you cannot organize your downloads into sub-folders, meaning you have to have those files "directly" in the Tray-folder. See this example screenshot, from inside my "Tray":


How to install custom content in TS4: .package files, script mods, custom sims & lots. [UPDATED ON 21-03-2015] P5XA0ve




Now, you should open the game, and then go to the in-game options menu.


How to install custom content in TS4: .package files, script mods, custom sims & lots. [UPDATED ON 21-03-2015] Screen10





Go to the "Other"-tab and mark the box "Online access". Then click on "apply changes" in the bottom right, to save those settings. Now load your savegame, and go into LIVE-mode at first.




Click on the button with the 3 dots, in the top right of the screen, and select "Manage Worlds". When you get to the map of the neighborhood, open the gallery by either pressing F4 or selecting the button here:


How to install custom content in TS4: .package files, script mods, custom sims & lots. [UPDATED ON 21-03-2015] Screen10





When you then go to the "My library"-tab, you probably won't see the lot that you inserted in the "Tray"-folder. 




How to install custom content in TS4: .package files, script mods, custom sims & lots. [UPDATED ON 21-03-2015] Screen11







You now need to click on the "Advanced"-button on the lower left side of the menu, and mark the box "include custom content":




How to install custom content in TS4: .package files, script mods, custom sims & lots. [UPDATED ON 21-03-2015] Screen12





Click on your lot now, and place it in the world ! The "insertion" of custom/downloaded sims should work in the same fashion.



And this is the preliminary guide on custom content ! I hope this will help at least some of you. If anybody of you notices any errors, do let me know, since I might be wrong somewhere, with a few things. 

Thanks for reading this and have fun ! Very Happy  


//EDIT

Small addition: here are a few sites with TS4 custom content, which you might want to check out:


http://www.thesimsresource.com/


http://www.den.simlogical.com/denforum/index.php            -----------> is mostly about mods for The Sims 4


http://modthesims.info/


http://mysims4blog.blogspot.de/


http://sims4updates.net/


Last edited by The_gh0stm4n on Fri 05 Jul 2019, 17:15; edited 13 times in total
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Post by Guest Wed 29 Oct 2014, 22:38

Thank you, Carlos!
This idea of separating each type of CC in sub-folders is brilliant, never thought about it, I think I was always in a rush to play to game instead! XD

Respect!

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Post by Guest Fri 07 Nov 2014, 03:33

Thank you for the guide!
I'm sure a lot of people know about tumblr, but for the few that don't it's a great place for downloads. Search the following tags: "ts4 download, s4cc, s4 download, sims 4 download", ect.
There are ts4 Finds blogs too.
Another good site is mybsims, there's a sims 4 download section along with sims 2 & 3.

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Post by The_gh0stm4n Fri 07 Nov 2014, 08:32

amarathinee wrote:Thank you for the guide!
I'm sure a lot of people know about tumblr, but for the few that don't it's a great place for downloads. Search the following tags: "ts4 download, s4cc, s4 download, sims 4 download", ect.
There are ts4 Finds blogs too.
Another good site is mybsims, there's a sims 4 download section along with sims 2 & 3.

Hello amarathinee and welcome to the forum, Smile


Thank you for the feedback, and you're very welcome of course. Yes, there are many smaller sites, blogs, tumblr's and so on with good CC for Sims 4; the ones I posted in my guide are the "major" ones though.

But thanks for pointing out other sites too ! Very Happy 
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Post by Guest Sun 09 Nov 2014, 19:18

Thanks Carlos, this helped me alot! Smile

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Post by Guest Tue 12 May 2015, 15:28

how did you sownload cc into your game because i download the sims 4 from g4tw and there is no mods folder

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Post by Guest Mon 18 May 2015, 04:17

nnnicole0001 wrote:how did you sownload cc into your game because i download the sims 4 from g4tw and there is no mods folder
Hello Smile

Just to make sure, did you check: Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 4 ?
The Mods folder is located inside The Sims 4 folder

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Post by Admin Mon 18 May 2015, 20:18

Hi there,

If you're sure that you installed The Sims 4 correctly, you should be able to add it manually anyway: http://www.games4theworlddownloads.org/Downloads/Guides/How_to_install_.package_files.pdf

Just copy the files to Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4\  instead.
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Post by Guest Wed 09 Sep 2015, 18:28

Very nice tutorial.i recently re-downloaded TS4 and organizing my mods folder makes it much easier! Smile



Mod edit: I'll now close the thread. If anybody wants to leave a "thank you-note", feel free to do so in this forum section

- Carlos

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